Happy Heavenly Birthday, Carol Channing!

As I’m currently in San Diego directing a new production of Hello, Dolly! at San Diego Musical Theatre, I’m thinking of the original Tony Award-winning “Dolly Levi” Carol Channing, who was born 104 years ago today. As regular readers know, I made my Broadway debut in the 1995 revival of Dolly! which starred dear, fabulous Carol. I’m sharing a video of the last time we were onstage together – back in 2010 when the annual Gypsy of the Year fundraiser for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS honored Carol. The producers of the event invited several of us from the revival to come do the opening number with Carol. I ended up standing next to her most of the number, so you can see my joy watching the audience welcome her back to the Broadway stage. The lead photo above was plastered across the front of the New York Times Arts & Leisure section the next day. #GoodTimes

Here’s a couple of factoids you may not know about Carol: • In 1970, Carol was the first celebrity to perform at a Super Bowl halftime. • She won the Golden Globe Award and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Muzzy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) Carol passed at the age of 97 in 2019. Celebrate our fabulous Tony Award winning, Academy Award nominee (Thoroughly Modern Millie) Carol Channing today. She is, was, and always will be a national treasure.